Panasonic’s AX800 4K tellies won’t work with Netflix 4K

Panasonic has announced that its highly anticipated, soon to be released 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) family of televisions will not be compatible with Netflix 4K.

The Panasonic AX800 UHD series was unveiled earlier this year at the European Dealer Convention, boasting screen resolutions that are four times that of HD, as well as screen sizes that range from 58 to 65 inches.

The reason for the Netflix 4K incompatibility is said to lie with an unspecified issue with the HEVC decoder chip built into each UHD TV, which is used for decoding ultra high definition content. This issue will not be resolvable with firmware updates.

News of the incompatibility will no doubt irk any Netflix subscribers keen on 4K. It may also put people off buying these particular 4K televisions, as Netflix 4K is one of just a handful of sources that offer decent 4K video.

Panasonic has promised that the next family of its UHD TVs will support Netflix 4K, starting with the X900 series TVs due to be released at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, this September.

Netflix has already released a significant amount of its catalogue in UHD format, including the Netflix Original show, House Of Cards, as well as AMC’s Breaking Bad, and is committed to increasing the amount of programming available in 4K resolution.

Netflix 4K is currently available for customers based in the United States, and requires a second-generation 4K UHD TV, in addition to a sufficiently fast fibre broadband connection.

-Matthew Hughes

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